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Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket with Caramelized Onions and Carrots

This tender, fall apart with your fork, juicy, flavorful braised beef is smothered in caramelized onions and carrots, dripping in a red wine reduction sauce bursting with flavor. This dish is the ultimate special-occasion dinner. Braised Beef is actually really simple to make, even if you are a beginner, and it gives you a super impressive, gourmet meal, with little effort. So go ahead, give it a try and let me know how it goes!

Braising is a super simple and wonderful method of cooking where the meat is seared on the stovetop and then is cooked in a covered pot in the stove, "low and slow" while submerged in liquid. This technique creates a moist, flavorful and tender meat depending on what kind of liquid you use and what you add to it.

Season the brisket with salt, pepper and brown sugar, rubbing it into the meat on both sides.

Add the brisket to the hot hot hot pot to sear the bottom.

Then, give it a flip and sear the other side until well browned. You are going to cook the meat about 5 minutes per side to seal in all of the juices.

Then set it aside to sauté a mirepoix.

I just love the onion, garlic, celery, carrot mixture that comes together to get spooned on top of the meat once it has cooked all nice and soft and flavorful.

Then, put the meat back in and pour
in the good stuff! The acidity of the wine is going to keep the meat ultra tender and give it that fall-off-the-bone texture.

If the brisket is not
completely covered with liquid, add a little extra
broth or water until it is completely covered in liquid. Bring the
liquid to a simmer. Cover, remove from the stovetop and place in the
lower section of the preheated oven to bake! Then, your work is done. Just let it braise low and slow in the oven and let the magic happen :)

When
the meat is done, you can reduce the liquid on the stove into a sauce. Then, slice the brisket across the
grain, gently, and spoon the sauce and vegetables on top for serving.

I like to serve it with my favorite garlic roasted mashed potatoes!

Red Wine Braised Beef Brisket with Caramelized Onions and Carrots

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

4-5 lbs. beef brisket

1 tablespoon salt

1-2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

3-4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for the pan

2 large onions, chopped

cloves from 1 head of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

4 carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 bottle dry red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 (14.5oz) can beef broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Season brisket with salt, pepper and brown sugar, rubbing it into the meat on both sides. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat until it is almost smoking. Gently, add the brisket and sear/cook each side until well browned, about 4-5 minutes per side to seal in the juices. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Lower heat to medium and add the onions. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots and celery to the pot and continue to sauté until softened, about 3-5 more minutes.

Place the brisket back into the pot, on top of the vegetables. Pour the wine, tomato paste, thyme and broth over the meat, and stir gently. If the brisket is not completely covered with liquid, add a little extra
broth or water until it is completely covered in liquid. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Cover, remove from the stovetop and place in the lower section of the preheated oven. Bake until meat is tender when you stick a fork into it, about 3-3 1/2 hours.

When the meat is done, carefully transfer it to a platter to rest. Spoon veggies from the pot all around the meat and cover
with aluminum foil to keep warm, while you reduce the liquid.

Skim any fat from surface of sauce of the liquid and discard. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to lift any flavorful brown bits stuck to the bottom. Then, boil the liquid in the pot
until it thickens slightly and reduces to your desired consistency, about 10-20 minutes.

Use a sharp knife to slice the brisket against the grain and spoon the reduced liquid on top for serving.